LEAD BY DESIGN

Schools across India have remained closed throughout the academic year 2020-21.  This has contributed to pushing 300million children on the edge of learning loss. Nearly 60 million children who are in primary school don’t have access to a stable internet or a dedicated smartphone. 

Research conducted in India for the academic year 2020-21 shows a whopping 92% of children in the primary grades have lost at least one specific language ability. This included all four aspects of Foundational literacy including describing a picture or their experiences orally; reading familiar words; reading with comprehension; writing simple sentences based on a picture. An alarming 82% of children on an average have lost at least one specific mathematical ability from the previous year across all classes. The engagement levels in those who have access to online education is yet another challenge. Nearly 80% teachers found it difficult to maintain an emotional connection with their children online*. 

Face to face peer conversations, real time exploration and social interaction have decreased without the physical school space. Given the work from home scenarios, caregivers have been responding to either livelihood challenges or an increased workload leaving minimal time to tend to a child’s emotional, social and academic needs.

Thus continuing school closure has led to loss of access; loss of engagement; loss of social-emotional connection and a significant learning loss. 

Hence, there is a need

-To develop age-appropriate cognitive and non cognitive skills being at home; 

- For creating avenues that develop independent learning by the child; 

- For a medium of learning that provides social - emotional well being. 

Lead by Design’s mission is to see that all children get a chance to go through education that is actively engaging, meaningful, suits the 21st century and makes them lifelong learners.

To achieve this extraordinary mission, we work with NGOs and schools of diverse backgrounds bringing creative learning places through an affordable i2i box. Through the i2i box, 6 - 10 year old children get a chance to explore, experiment and express their learning potential in a hands on, self guided manner. 

In the spaces we have created so far, children experience a predominant pre-requisite to learn - a fun learning environment! 

Children experience ways to think critically and problem solve; 

In creative learning places, children are able to work without distraction

and they are able to iterate on their ideas;

SDG 4 - Quality education

SDG 10 - Reduced inequalities

Our target audience is 6 to 10 year old students from urban and rural settings (both private and government schools. Our secondary users are School educators, who bring Creative Learning Places into their classrooms. Our customers include management, parents whose children are a part of the program. 

OUR SOLUTION IN ACTION

Our solution reached the final stages in the global social design competition held by UMO Design ((https://www.umo.design/explore/innovate-2-infinity/)

We developed the product in a human centric design approach. We first conducted field surveys with both parents and children of 6 to 10 years to understand the behaviour, socio-economic status and the pressure of the pandemic on livelihood and education. We derived a journey map of the people involved including students, parents and educators. 

Example of a journey map  

For the developement of the kit, on what specific activities to include in which format, we took the activities and materials directly to children and observed how they interacted with the box. Our initial observations showed us that children tended towards tactile materials such as blocks to work on their own while they tended towards collaborative play with other activities. We had an activity book, which 95% of children did not explore. This gave us insights into the materials, presentation of these materials and the reflection sheets that needs to be included in. 

For version 0.2, we then called in extreme of users, i.e children who are otherwise called as "good graspers" and "enthusiastic" and children who were otherwise termed as "slow learners" or "trouble makers". This time, we observed what kind of activities are children tending towards, are they able to comprehend the meaning of the activities and how are each of these groups interacting with the materials. This step was important for us to ensure that EVERY child, no matter their learning abilities, are able to interact with the box. 

Based on the observation, the final version of the i2i box Version1 was released in July 2021.

All the visuals in the box has been corroborated by children of the age 6 -10 years to make sure that it is not only visually appealing but also functionally relevant for that particular age group. 

Lead by Design empowers K12 school systems and NGOs in bringing access to creative and innovation avenues; By building cost effective products (iNNOVATE 2 iNFINITY box). 

1. iNNOVATE 2 iNFINITY box is a creative and a self learning box which enables children of ages 7 to 10 to EXPLORE, EXPERIMENT and EXPRESS their creative potential. The components of the box include basic materials that can then be modified by children to bring in infinite possibilities of activities. The box comes with materials and an activity guide book along with observation and reflection questions for the educators/caregivers. 

2. Teachers observation manual to note down students behaviour and skills during the creative hour. 

3. Teacher orientation program, where educators undergo hands on experiential orientation session on bringing creative learning places through the i2i box.

OUTPUTS

1. Hours students engaged in creative learning

2. All Students work in teams and are able to communicate their ideas.

3. Number of Student-led sustainable projects in schools

4. Number of community members benefited from the solution 

OUTCOMES

1. Increased engagement in classroom and other activities

2. 1 in 20 students become young ambassadors of change

3. 70% of schools have 1 session every week as ”creative hour”.

4. 90% of the projects are implemented and sustained

IMPACT

1. Children become changemakers

2. Inclusive classrooms that enable participation of every child.

3. Schools and homes become sustainable

We are currently on Level 3 at Nesta's standard of evidence. During the pilot stage of bringing Creative Learning Places through the i2i box, we conducted field surveys to understand the impact of our solution. 

Here are examples from our field insights

Our initial field data and insights in the form of feedback from the caregivers and students along with the number of hours spent by students are indicative of why our solution works. 

90% of our customers reported that our products are child friendly and easy to understand by a child himself/herself. 

100 % of the parents felt that the sessions are relevant to their children in today’s world. 

98% of the parents felt that their children had fun with the solution.

Testimonial from parents

**Pavan Kolli, Hyderabad** - Parent

I saw my child trying to go out of comfort zone while interacting with others and in creative tasks. She has become more aware of sustainability goals and their importance, especially energy conservation. As a parent the best part of the workshop was Collaboration and Offline Parent-Child interaction. 

Research by the  Lego Foundation  show that social emotional interventions and play can bridge educational inequalities and have the long-term effect of producing more compassionate, happy, calm, less aggressive adults leading to greater academic and job success, regardless of gender, race, religion, language, socioeconomic or geographical background. 

Creative Learning Places through the i2i box is designed to answer the need expressed clearly by different children across the above age group while meeting their various developmental milestones as shown below.                                     

Currently, the main indicators that we use to track and monitor our solution's impact include

FOR STUDENTS

Quantitative indicator - Attendance in the classroom

Qualitative indicator for Learning readiness

Self regulation of emotions

Listening to peers and teacher

Iteration of ideas

Coming up with new ideas

Able to finish things that were started

Ability to work in a team

Ability to articulate ideas orally

Each of these consist of 4 different levels. The educators during the self learning hour monitors and notes down observation with regards to each of these levels, currently captured via google sheet. 

The sheet automatically gives graphic output to the educator indicating to her/him where does the classroom stand w.r.t each of these skills and which one to focus on during other lessons as well.

Lead by Design has developed a physical product, the iNNOVATE 2 iNFINITY box (or the i2i box) featuring a measurable, play based, socio-emotional and self learning solution to solve for inequity and variability in learning. 

RESEARCH QUESTION WE WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER

Lead by Design’s mission is to see that all children get a chance to go through education that is actively engaging, meaningful, suits the 21st century and makes them lifelong learners. While there is enough and more data from around the world on how play based learning not only improves children’s graduation outcomes, but also directly contributes to the return of  investment by society, a miniscule level of research is done in the Indian social and school context. 

Hence, we would like to conduct primary research on what is the effect of creative learning places on learning outcomes specifically in primary grade children. 

What would the successful outcome of this project allow you to achieve? How would hosting a LEAP project enhance your organization’s 5-year plan?

FOR THE ORGANISATION - INTERNALLY

1. Spending the money on this particular research project will enable us to  collect very needed first hand contextual information on how creativite learning places that enable play based learning  affects the learning outcome of children in underserved classrooms in India. Such research is currently unavailable in the Indian classroom context. 

1. Our work is rooted in secondary research as well as  empirical data, insights and qualitative analysis which depict a positive shift in learning outcomes when children are exposed to creative avenues. This fund will  help us  uncover nuances, characteristics and degree of shift in Learning outcomes while formulating  the best measures and standards that can depict the growth of the child.

FOR THE ORGANIZATION - EXTERNALLY

1. It will enable us to establish Lead by Design  as an action based design organization with a focus on education, disrupting through child / educator centric products and services. The funds will support us to set up a strong R and D culture in the organization. 

1. The  experience will help us develop expertise and ease partnerships with  schools, CSO’s and organizations working in bringing creativity to children.

1. Lego foundation's research on play based learning has concluded with 4 areas of future investments. Our proposal directly contributes to one of the 4 outstanding questions. 

FOR THE ECOSYSTEM

1. The research article  will  impact the  education  ecosystem at large by guiding organizations  to make informed choices to drive learning outcomes by bringing creative learning places in many more classrooms across the country. This is in direct alignment with the mission of Nipun Bharat.

1. Data and insights from the study  will aid and bring ease in New Education Policy implementation through guidance on the What and How of  bringing creative spaces in a cost effective manner. 

1. Both Niphun Bharat and UNICEF underline the need for simplifying tools that can help educators bring in changes towards 21st century learning. Insights would enable us to strengthen our current systems in place for supporting educators

DELIVERABLES

Milestone 1: 3 MONTHS FROM COMMENCEMENT

Planning for effective learning: With input from technical experts, behavioral scientists, and system actors, and with guidance from the Design Lead, the Human Centric Design (HCD) facilitator will support sprint teams to identify key questions about the children and their context. The HCD facilitator will support the teams to develop strong design sprint plans for each design sprint round that includes prototypes, questions, and creative research methods to answer the key questions.

Key Deliverables

1. Literature review of creative learning places around the world (and specifically targeting low economic countries)

2. Research setup and conditions.

3. Research methodology with indicators of frequency of observation and duration of observation.

4. The choice of materials and spatial design that will be used to create the creative Learning place

5. Research goals and indicators

• Learning outcomes indicators and metrics to measure

• Play based learning outcomes indicators and metrics to measure.

People involved

Consultants (Educational experts, behavioral scientists, child psychologists, educators, communication design consultant)

HCD facilitator

Milestone 2: 3 MONTHS FROM MILESTONE 1

Designing prototypes and testing tools: The HCD facilitator will design and/or revise prototypes and testing tools for sprint teams to run user testing. Examples of prototypes and testing tools include workshop experiences, reading materials, interactive tools, storyboards, audio tracks, card sorts, templates, and others. Illustrators will be available to provide support on illustrations for prototypes. In addition, the HCD facilitator will be engaging the sprint teams to participate in the prototyping process and building the team’s confidence in making and iterating prototypes and tools.

Managing user testing: The HCD facilitator will  follow user testing plans, ensuring the teams are aligned on learning goals and testing methods. The HCD facilitator will note where prototypes and user tests are not providing effective learning, and collaborate with the LBD Team to quickly iterate prototypes and user tests where necessary.

Key Deliverables

1. Space design of the classroom

2. Diverse materials to build cost effective Creative Learning Places

3. Weekly reports

4. Photo and video  documentation

People involved

Consultants (Behavioural scientists, communication design consultant)

HCD facilitator

Milestone 3: 9 MONTHS FROM MILESTONE 1

Synthesizing and documenting learning: The HCD facilitator will participate in synthesis sessions with the sprint teams, behavioural scientists, and the Design Lead to review the design sprint outputs and identify actionable insights. The HCD facilitator will be responsible for creating weekly update reports and contributing to design sprint reports to tell the design sprint story (learning goals, process, outputs, and next steps).

Supporting the final designs: When design sprints are complete, the HCD facilitator will support the Design Lead to design the final content, India specific delivery plan, and contextualization strategy.

Key Deliverables

1. Research article on the effects of creative learning places in learning outcomes of children.

2. How to - manual on setting up cost effective creative learning places

People involved

HCD facilitator

Reviewers

Milestone 1 will be covered by the LEAP fellows.